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Clarifying butter: filter? Or decant?

I've been clarifying butter lately, small amounts using a small (1-quart) stainless saucier. I'm not sure I'm doing it correctly, but the results seem to be pretty good. To make 8 ounces of clarified butter I start with 10 ounces (2&#189; sticks) of sweet butter, cut up into chunks. Melt on medium to medium-low heat (my Maytag-brand glass top range is rather slow), get it bubbling and skim the foam off the top. When the bubbling slows considerably -- but before the whey on the bottom starts browning -- remove from the heat and let sit for five minutes. Skim one last time. Now, this is where my question comes in: at this point, do you decant the butter fat off the whey? Or do you filter it through cheese cloth (or musline or étamine)?

You can clarify butter in a microwave(I know,it's sacrilege).Use a Pyrex or microwave safe measuring cup w/a spout.1-2 mins,wait till it settles and slowly pour into a different container till you hit the whey.Then you can use a spoon or small laddle to scoop up the rest of the good stuff..

Another decanter. FWIW its my understanding that clarified butter has no shelf life issues. I do a couple sticks at a time in sauce pan in oven for the more gentle heat. Pour off and refrigerate in qt container. Remove as necc.

I do a bit of both, carefully decanting through a couple layers of butter muslin (no idea how the "e" got on the end of "muslin" above). My result is translucent instead of the transparent fats I see online, but when I use the butter for frying it clears right up and doesn't burn.